Nation's Last Handgun Ban Shot Down

The U.S District Court for the Mariana Islands struck down the nation’s last handgun ban, ruling that permanent residents of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) have the constitutional right to keep and bear arms. “The Second Amendment, as well as the Due Process Clause and Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, are the law of the land in the CNMI as if it were a state,” wrote Chief Judge Ramona Manglona. “The Second Amendment, made applicable against the states through the Fourteenth Amendment, protects the fundamental right of armed self-defense, and prohibits any state from completely banning handguns.” David Radich, a Navy veteran of the Gulf War, and his wife, Li-Rong Radich, took the commonwealth to court after Li-Rong was attacked and beaten when she was at home alone in 2010. When they applied for a weapons identification card to get a gun to protect themselves, they were ignored.

This isn’t the only Second Amendment win of late. Last week, Idaho became the ninth state to institute constitutional carry, codifying that any resident 21 years or older has the right to carry without a permit. And earlier this month, the West Virginia legislature overrode its governor’s vetoto institute constitutional carry in that state. Such developments show that from the Appalachians to the furthest islands in the Pacific Ocean the law recognizes everyday Americans have the right to self defense, a right that is becoming harder for the Left to erode.